Ukraine: State Department Adoption Notice

5/20/11

Notice: Ukrainian Family Code Amendments and adoption processing in Ukraine

On May 19, the Ukrainian government passed an amendment to its Family Code to require orphans to be registered on the central adoption registry for one year and to be at least 5 years old before they are eligible for intercountry adoption. The amendment exempts children with certain special needs, relative adoptions, and sibling adoptions. The proposed amendment will take effect in June of this year and names the Ministry of Social Policy as the responsible authority for adoptions procedures.

We will continue to encourage the Ministry of Social Policy to ensure that pending adoptions between Ukraine and the United States are not interrupted as the Ukrainian Family Code is amended and the procedural and logistical aspects of the transfer is implemented.

According to SDA, there are now 139 U.S. families registered with the SDA, some of them already in-country. We are asking all American families that are currently in Ukraine or have appointments with SDA during the next few weeks to send their contact information to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine’s Adoption Unit at: kyivadoptions@state.gov . Families should contact their local adoption service provider for further updates and details.

We will keep monitoring the situation and will provide updates as they become available.